FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Lions Club is inviting the public to its annual Fly In Breakfast that will be held Sunday at the Fairmont Airport.

The event begins at 7 a.m. and lasts until noon.

The menu includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, milk, orange juice and coffee. Tickets can be bought ahead of time at Bank Midwest, Profinium, First Farmers & Merchants Bank and State Bank in Fairmont, as well as Hy-Vee. Cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 6-10. Prices at the airport are $7 for adults and $5 for children. Children under age 6 eat for free.

“It’s an annual event and it’s always been on the fourth Sunday of June,” said Curt Nelson, a longtime Fairmont Lions Club member. “We’ve been doing it in excess of 40 years but we’re not sure exactly what year it started.”

The number of people who come to the breakfast has varied over the years, depending on the weather. When the weather is clear and good, many pilots fly in. Typically, the Lions hope to serve about 750 people.

There will be opportunities for airplane rides at the breakfast for a nominal cost.

“The fly-in breakfast is our largest project throughout the year and we rely on that heavily for the support of charities,” Nelson said.

The Lions Club’s other annual fundraiser is the ring toss at the Martin County Fair in August. It also sells Lions mints at several businesses around town.

Lions Club members work at the breakfast but in the last few years Kinship members also have helped. Nelson said Lions Club numbers are down and the organization is always encouraging more people to join.

Everything raised at the breakfast goes to the organizations and causes supported by the local Lions Club.

“Our primary benefactors are sight, hearing and diabetes. Although we have also supported a number of local charities here in Fairmont and in Martin County based on need,” Nelson said.

The Lions Club, an international organization, was organized in 1956. Its motto is “We Serve.”

Anyone with eyeglasses they no longer need is encouraged to bring them to the fly-in breakfast to be donated to the MN Eye Bank.

“It’s a good breakfast,” Nelson said. “People enjoy it and they know what it’s all about because we’ve been putting it on for so long. People like to come out and watch the planes come and go.”